This week’s recommendation: the first full-length album from the Welsh indie-pop band Los Campesinos!, 2008’s Hold On Now, Youngster… (listen on Rdio or Spotify). Lots of good songs (and great titles), but the standout track I’ll point to is “We Are All Accelerated Readers”.
This band’s clever, literate lyrics are delivered by his & hers counterpoint vocals, on top of snappy – almost manic – musical arrangements. And okay, I can see where they might be a little overly twee (“adjective, Brit., chiefly derogatory; excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental“), but if you don’t hate them, you’ll love them.
A runner-up for standout would be “…And We Exhale And Roll Our Eyes In Unison”, and the ending lines, their build-up, the delivery, it’s just perfect indie pop.
And woe is me
And woe is you
And woe is us
Together